The Household Budget App Built for the Whole Family
Most budgeting apps are built for one person. Your household isn't. Know Your Dosh gives individuals, couples and families one shared view of their money, with the privacy controls to keep personal spending personal.
How Know Your Dosh compares to other budgeting apps
| App | Free to Start | Shared Family Access | Personal Privacy Controls | Full Asset Tracking | Multi-Currency / Global | iOS + Android | Budget Rollover |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Your Dosh | ✅ Yes | ✅ Native | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes | ✅ 80+ countries | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| YNAB | ❌ Paid only | ⚠️ Workaround | ❌ No | ❌ No | ⚠️ US/Canada focus | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Emma | ⚠️ Limited | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ⚠️ UK, US & Canada only | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Monarch Money | ❌ No | ⚠️ No privacy tiers | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ US only | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Copilot | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ⚠️ iOS only | ❌ No |
| PocketSmith | ✅ Yes | ❌ No | ❌ No | ⚠️ Limited | ⚠️ Paid plans only | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Honeydue | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Couples only | ⚠️ Limited | ❌ No | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ Yes | ❌ No |
| Goodbudget | ⚠️ Limited | ⚠️ Shared device only | ❌ No | ❌ No | ❌ No | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Spreadsheet | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Manual | ❌ No | ⚠️ Manual | ⚠️ Manual | ❌ No | ⚠️ Manual |
What is a household budget (and why most families get it wrong)
A household budget is a shared plan for how your family’s money comes in and goes out. Income from all earners, rent or mortgage, food, bills, childcare, the car, savings goals, and everything in between.
Most families try to manage this with a spreadsheet that one person maintains, or separate apps that nobody else can see. Neither works for long. The spreadsheet goes stale. The apps create blind spots. And nobody really knows where the household stands.
The problem isn’t discipline. It’s the tools. Budgeting apps have been built for individuals since they were invented. Know Your Dosh is the first one built around the household itself. This is budgeting or real life.
Your household budget template, already built in
Forget downloading a spreadsheet and starting from scratch. When you set up Know Your Dosh, you get a household budget template already structured for you, with the categories most families actually need.
Add your income, review the preset spending categories, adjust anything that doesn’t fit, and invite your partner or family members to the same view. Setup takes less than 30 minutes.
What’s included in the template:
- Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Annual and even synced to Pay Cycle options
- Fixed expenses: rent/mortgage, utilities, subscriptions, insurance
- Variable expenses: groceries, transport, dining, clothing
- Irregular expenses: car repairs, home maintenance, school trips
- Savings goals: holidays, emergency fund, big purchases
- Debt repayments: loans, credit cards, buy now pay later
Everything updates in real time as your family spends. No more manually entering transactions into a spreadsheet at the end of the month.
Why Know Your Dosh works for couples and families
Other budgeting apps make you choose: either you share everything, or you manage your money separately. That’s not how real households work.
Know Your Dosh is built around three layers: mine, theirs, and ours.
Shared household view
Both partners see the same household dashboard in real time. Shared bills, joint savings goals, and household spending all in one place. No more “I thought you paid that” conversations.
Personal privacy controls
Each person can keep their own spending private. Your partner doesn’t need to see what you spent at the coffee shop or what you’re buying for their birthday. Household finances don’t have to mean zero personal privacy.
A dashboard for the whole family
Know Your Dosh isn’t just a budget tracker. It’s a full family finance dashboard. Track your net worth, assets, liabilities, and savings alongside your day-to-day budgets. The whole financial picture, in one place.
Works anywhere in the world
Full multi-currency support across 80+ countries. Whether you earn in pounds and spend in euros, or you’re managing finances across borders, it works.
How to set up your household budget in under 30 minutes
Step 1: Download the app
Free on iOS and Android. No credit card required.
Step 2: Connect your account(s)
Using secure connection technology once you have linked your main account, we can display all income and expenditure by category.
Step 3: Set up your budget categories
Use the provided suggestions or customise it. Add your fixed costs (rent, bills, subscriptions), variable spending (groceries, transport, nights out), and any targets you’re working towards.
Step 4: Invite your partner or family
Send an invite from within the app. Each person sets their own privacy preferences. The household view updates in real time for everyone.
Step 5: Set your alerts
The app notifies you at 75% and 100% of any budget category, so you’re never caught out. A weekly email digest keeps everyone in the household on the same page.
That’s it. Most families are up and running in under 30 minutes.
What to include in your household budget
Not sure what to track? Here are the categories most households need.
Fixed costs (same every month)
Rent or mortgage · Broadband and utilities · Insurance (home, car, life) · Loan repayments · Subscriptions (streaming, gym, etc.)
Variable costs (changes month to month)
Groceries · Petrol or public transport · Eating out · Clothing · Children’s activities
Non-monthly costs (irregular but predictable)
Car service or repairs · Annual insurance renewals · School uniforms and trips · Christmas and birthdays · Home repairs and maintenance
Know Your Dosh gives you a budget category for each of these by default. You can rename them, merge them (group categories together), or add your own. The household template is a starting point, not a restriction.
FAQs
Q: What is the best household budget app for families?
Know Your Dosh is built specifically for households and families, making it one of the few budgeting apps with native shared access, privacy controls, and asset tracking alongside day-to-day budgeting. Most other apps (YNAB, Emma, Monarch) were built for individuals first and bolt on family features as an afterthought, if at all.
Q: Can couples share a budgeting app?
Yes. Know Your Dosh is designed for couples and families to use together. Both partners get their own login, a shared household view, and the option to keep personal spending private. It’s free to start and works on both iOS and Android.
Q: Is Know Your Dosh free?
Yes. You can start using Know Your Dosh for free with no credit card required. Household budgeting features are included in the free tier.
Q: Does the app work outside the UK?
Yes. Know Your Dosh supports multi-currency budgeting and is used by families in over 80 countries. It’s built for households with international finances as well as those managing everything in pounds.
Q: What’s the difference between a household budget planner and a regular finance app?
A regular finance app tracks your personal spending. A household budget planner covers all income and expenses across the whole family: shared bills, joint savings goals, and individual spending, all in one view. Know Your Dosh does both.